Nouns and PrePositions

Groups of related nouns sharing prepositions

related meanings share the same
sometimes groups of nouns with
-
nouns
book article, essay'
lecture, disserotion'
prolect, assignment
r"t.*.h (see'also B),
investigation, inquirY
preposltlons'
preposition(s)
the historY of emigration'
about, on
She wrote a dissertation on2
tuen"g" slang in NewYork'
into the origins of
into Kelly (1969) conducted at
international terrorism'
po*rrtial impact of the H5N I

of The article offers an tntty'iiof tft"

analysis, examination,
Avian Flu virus.
exploration (see also
B), study warming'
problem, difficulry of,with H;g.* " I"..r*-tt 'h" problem of globalset of results may
OnJ aim.ufty with this approach is that a
allow different interPretationr
questioned the rationale for
reason, motivation' for T.*.-.tt l** .*ently
government sPendinS.'
rationale (see also B)
subiects; oz is frequently used
for more specific'
I and about tetdsto be used for more general
2
in both uses
aJirl.a *orks, although both may be found
See also the notes on prepositions
after nouns in Unit 44'
particurar prepositions
Nouns commonry associated with
wrrrL, trrvrl
t'oot" which- rtvYsv----t - -
most.freque"'ly,t:T:
s You can also learn tne nourls
'ht examples are all ti'tles of academic
*lf:: 5:':::'::t:t;H:i:::'
articles.
Some of these are i" A;;;;;'
The following
preposition exomPle
nouns
at A" .t i"t"Sotio:no-f"tonomic and psychological
look, attemPt, Point' age "tt.-Pt
theories of consumPtion
in financial decision-
changes, differences' tn ffiking
,..-.-..o
increase, decrease
;" t.*.ttig"t'-r', into fr$ thuracteristics of children with
i *6-n-Cn q u i.Y, resea rch, into
investigation twins
on Genetic rnlluence orl sllteKrrrB
work, research, influence'
emphasis, effect means
of A computerrseo cllnlcal treclsrerr )uPyvr L

basis, idea, Parc, lack'

of implementing d"Ptgttion 8ffi
exploration, mganr for multiPle
case
need, reason, basis, case' for @lture:the
preference kural
relation, aPProach, to
communication
response, aftention
Pt-g..t. t"*"tds sustainable regional development
attitude, tendency, move' to/towards
ProSress
behind O*ta."',rg at e assumptions behind art crit'icism
principle, rationale,
assumptions, logic and
between TE.l"tl"rthtp between educational technology
relationshiP, difference,
distinction
student achievement in %

38 AcodemicVocobulorY in Use
 Exercises

I 5.1 Fill in the missing prepositions. In questions 4 and 5, more than one answer is possible.
1 One difficulty the class questionnaire was that some students had already
left the course and could not be contacted.
2 She wrote a dissertation . . . . wild flower conservation in Finland in the 1990s.
J The book is an exploration the origins of the economic crisis of L997.
1

4 The rationale ........ the present research is the need to better understand the
process of agreement in international law.

the availability of computerised databases or 'corpora'.

6 Prippen's (1984) book was an inquiry the foundations of nationalism.
7
'Y/hat is Kazuo Matsui's book ? Have"you read it?
8 He did a study the problem side-impact automobile collisions.

15.2 Correct the mistakes in the use of prepositions in these sentences. There may be more than
one mistake Per sentence.
1 Her dissertation produced some interesting insights to how young children develop a
visual sense of the world and the age in which development is most noticeable.
2 The reason of the unwillingness of the people involved in the demonstration to be
interviewed was fear of being arrested later.
3 Hierstat's approach at the analysis of solar phenomena is different from that of
Donewski. i{e questioned the assumptions under much of the previous research.
4 Changes of the rate of growth of the cells were observed over time.
5 A lacf in funding led to the cancellation of the project, and social scientists blamed the
negative attitude of the government on social science research'
6 ;airil's article pot, gr.ri.mphasis into the need of more research and argues the case of
greatil attention on the causes of poverty rather than the symptoms.
5.3 Using a dictionary if necessary, match each noun with the preposition that usually follows it.

fl Nouns: attitude difference effect emphasis insight

principle rationale reason relationship tendency
preference

Prepositions: behind between for into on to/towards

15.4 Underline typical academic noun + preposition combinations like those on the opposite page.

of climate change are often in the news, as is the matter of whether

predicted. New work on a migratoryr bird, the pied flycatcher, takes
population decline w€s actually caused'
1wing,loW a c1imatg1elgted
ii viiiriiC*;rr;rs iieitiirec.iiionity in aieas wner:e caterpillar2
tlgsli [eiqy. nut in argas with a late food peakthere wa: n9
ive too iatq'in:.places wher:e caterpillars have already responded to
.thiq,is probably. a common consequence of climate change,
and may
of many long-distance rnigratory bird species'

2
I which travels to a different place, usually when the season changes small, long animal with
3
many legs which develops into a butterfly young birds

AcademicVocabulory in lJse 39